The end of Serbia and Montenegro

The status of the union between Montenegro and Serbia was decided by a
referendum on Montenegrin Independence on May 21, 2006. 55.54% of
voters voted for independence of Montenegro, narrowly passing the 55%
threshold needed to validate the referendum under rules set by the
European Union, as reported by 99.80% of the 1,100 polling stations.
Serbia, the member-states of the European Union, and the permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council have all signalled they
will likely recognize Montenegro's independence, removing any obvious
obstacles from Montenegro's path towards becoming the world's newest
sovereign state. Predrag Popović, a leader of one of the unionist
parties demanding a full recount, said the day after the election that
his bloc would lodge a complaint with the head of the election
commission, Slovak diplomat Frantisek Lipka.
According to the electoral commission, the 55% threshold was passed by
only 2,300 votes (55.5% in favour).

On June 3, 2006, the Parliament of Montenegro declared the
independence of Montenegro, formally confirming the result of the
referendum on independence. On June 5 Serbia was declared the
successor of Yugoslavia and the State Union by the National Assembly
of Serbia. Montenegro has begun the process of seeking international
recognition as well as a seat at international organizations.

On 6 December 2002, the 27-member commission on constitutional
reform presented a first draft of the new federal constitution for
Serbia and Montenegro.

On 4 February 2003, the Parliament of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia adopted "The Constitutional Charter of the State Community
of Serbia and Montenegro", together with the law on its
implementation.
By so adopting the Charter, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was
renamed Serbia and Montenegro.
The new unicameral parliament of the federation will have 126 seats
(Serbia: 91, Montenegro: 35), filled by nominees of the two state
parliaments for the first two years until public elections are taking
place. After three years, both states are allowed to unilaterally
leave the federation on public referendum. Full independence of
Montenegro, therefore, is still a possibility.

The
law
on the implementation of the constitutional charter of the state
union of Serbia and Montenegro says:

Article 23

The Law on the Flag of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
shall be passed within 60 days from the date on which the Parliament
of Serbia and Montenegro is constituted. The Law on the Coat-of-arms
and the anthem of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro shall be
passed by the end of the year 2003.

Therefore, the national flag, arms and anthem of Serbia and
Montenegro are still those of the former Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.

Ivan Sache, 16 April 2003

Status of the flag of Serbia and Montenegro

The flag of the former Yugoslavia (as well
as its coat of arms and anthem) is still both de facto and
de jure the official flag of the subsequent new state of
Serbia and Montenegro.

De facto, it was seen in use in several instances,
including among other the official hoisting in several places in
connection with the assasination of the Prime Minister Džinžić and
the Council of Europe session acknowledging
Sertbia and Montenegro as the 45th member of the Council (Strasbourg,
3 April 2003).

De jure, the Constitutional Charter and the Law on its
implementation have provisions that make all the legislation of
Yugoslavia valid for the new state until the adoption of the new
appropriate legislation replacing it. This naturally also include the
legislation on the flag, as demonstrated by the usage practice.

The law of the new flag should be adopted, according to the
Charter and the Law on Implementation, within 60 days of the
constitution of the new Parliament. Therefore, the new flag should be
adopted sometime around the 1st May, if the Parliament observes the
time table provided by its own legislation, which might have not been
the case, especially considering the situation after Džinžić's
assassination.

Željko Heimer, 10 April 2003

Origin of the flag

The red, white and blue are pan-Slavic colors. These are based
upon the flag of Russia (itself influenced by
the Dutch flag). In 1848, these colors were
adopted by the Pan-Slavic Congress as pan-Slav colors.
As many of the Slavic nations of the time were under foreign
domination, the Russian flag became a symbol of inspiration to Slavic
peoples. The pattern has been repeated in many of the flags of Slavic
nations and regions, in some instances with minor variations to the
horizontal stripes and, in some cases, the colors as well.

National symbols in the Constitution

From the 1992 Constitution:

Article 4. The Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia shall have a flag, a national anthem, and a
coat of arms. The flag of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia shall consist of three horizontal stripes, blue, white and
red in that order, from top to bottom. The national anthem of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia shall be Hej Sloveni. The coat
of arms of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is to be established by
Federal statute.

Article 11. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia shall
recognize and guarantee the rights of national minorities to
preserve, foster and express their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and
other peculiarities, as well as to use their national symbols, in
accordance with international law.

Amendment IV

1. The Federal Assembly shall adopt the Federal Law pertaining to
the flag, coat of arms and national anthem by holding a ballot where
a majority vote of at least two-thirds of all Federal representatives
in both Chambers is needed.

2. This Amendment shall replace Article 90, Paragraph 2 of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Serbia and Montenegro flag outside the United
Nations building in New York

Accounts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's readmittance to
the United Nations describe their flag as being the same as the
former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia's
flag but without the big red star. Said old flag flew outside the
United Nations buildings in New York 1992-2000 while Yugoslavia's
membership was 'on hold' due to a dispute over whether or not
Yugoslavia needed to reapply for membership following the break-up of
the Communist state at the end of the 1980s.
On 1 November 2000, it was pulled down for the last time and replaced
by the Federal Republic's flag.

Megan Robertson, 2 November 2000

The change of the flag was shown on Spanish television. The flag
with the star was lowered and a similar flag without a star was
hoisted. The shade of blue was also a bit different between both
flags. Cloth was shinier in the new flag.

Jaume Ollé, 2 November 2000

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Serbia and Montenegro - Image by Jorge Candeias, 16 February 1998

The new Yugoslav coat of arms was adopted by Federal Parliament in
1994, two years after forming the "third" Yugoslavia. Since then, it
has replaced the NBJ (National Bank) sign on the banknotes, and new
passports have been issued since July 1997.

The coat of arms is a double-headed eagle silver, bearing a quartered shield with the
national signs of Montenegro (Petrović dynasty's golden lion) and Serbia
(four firesteels)

The Yugoslav flag shall remain the same (blue, white, red),
without the coat of arms on it.

Milos Erić, 16 February 1998

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes that was formed after First World War adopted a coat of
arms consisting of three parts changed in details over time, It
always included the four firesteels and
the cross in one of the partitions, the Croat
chequy shield in other, while the third part was somewhat
changed.
After the Second World War, Socialist
Yugoslavia dropped that symbol, as it was not suitable for the
conception of five (later six) nations within it, and introduced the
Socialist style coat of arms with torches. However, the coat of arms
with the four firesteels was not dropped alltogether - the
People's Republic of Serbia adopted it
officially in 1947 in the middle of a Socialist style coat of arms,
but dropping the cross and retaining only the four firesteels on the
shield. When the name was changed to Socialist Republic of Serbia in
1963, the coat of arms was retained, as well as after early 1990s
when Socialist attribute was dropped from the name. It is still the
only official coat of arms of Serbia and
used as such, even if Montenegro and
Yugoslavia changed their symbols.